Niklos strides straight for the door, waving his hand dimissively at the giant.
"Yeah, yeah," he say. "Whatever you're selling, I ain't buying. Good luck with your rebellion..."
"But... but... the noble cause of freedom..."
Heartbroken, the giant moves to a corner, sitting glumly in silence.
As you get to the pub, the cyclops, who has smothered the fire, gasps. "What are you doing here! This place is for giants only! Get immediately out! Uh, wait, you were heading out, so... get in? No, that doesn't make sense. Uhhhh... where are you going?"
Flashing her new badge, Edda smirks at the Cyclops and speaks with authority.
"You see nothing going here one-eye! We're just passing through on business for the Tick-Tock man."
She then turns on her heel and heads to the exit, a broad smile on her face. Outside the bar...
"That was kinda fun. Now I think I understand why lawmen and paladins enjoy pushing people around."
"Being an 'official' a&$&+&* does have its perks." Basil agrees.
The cyclops looks self-satisfied as he speaks to the dwarves. "Ha! Getting out! Just as I told them! See who's boss 'round this pub, you lazy bums?"
The journey back towards the Briar is uneventful. At the entrance of the undergrowth you find a note pinned to a twisted elderberry branch. It simply says "Got bored. See you around."
And of course, you haven't walked far when you get to Algon's clearing, and the paladin himself comes out of the woods saying his magniloquent speech.
Edda tries yet again to intimidate the Paladin, flashing her new badge at him.
"Listen...you bloody-minded pea-brained Paladin!! We are on official business for the Tick-Tock man. Now...you follow the law? Then let us pass! Right quick!"
"Yeah, official business!" Niklos reiterates. "We can't rightly stop the dragon if we're crushed by the sky falling down on our noggins, or if the sun goes out in the middle of the scuffle. Couldn't see what you're swinging at, savvy?"
"I swear, if he doesn't back away I'm going to shank him..." he mutters under his breath.
"Ah, it is so then! 'tis very well that you would trouble yourself with such menial tasks that I would not stoop to! Go ahead, and I shall await for you to grant me access to Zassrion's Fortress once such trivialities are dealt with! With haste!"
And, looking exceedingly proud, the paladin walks away from the clearing.
You follow the Ticktock Man's indications, trying to get lost, and arrive in another clearing, although this one is far different from Brambleson's or Algon's. Sickly yellow weed grows in spurts from dry, coarse ground, an eerie atmosphere permeating all of the place. Suddenly, muffled thunder rolls through the skies, followed by a hideous screeching of metal against metal. The sun above, held aloft on its brass rod, comes to a halt. Red light bathes the world as the moon jams into place before it, and a rumble echoes from the ground. The thorny plants bordering the clearing twist and move into a dense pattern, sealing off all the exits, as a skeletal hand breaches the ground in front of you, grasping to pull itself out of the ground.
"Oh, hell no!" Niklos swears at the sudden upheaval.
The scoundrel tugs at his vest, swooshing behind the skeletal hand in a sudden flash of speed. He starts stabbing at it with fervor, doing his to stop the dead from rising.
The rogue's onslaught easily cracks the skeleton's bones, but as you look around, two more of them have risen from the earth, and are shuffling towards you. More hands are seen reaching out of the ground.
Edda backs up pulling her wand of Molten Orb.
Basil will move to get all enemies within his sight, and casts Holy Ice Weapon, pouring holy water into his hand and shaping it into a frozen starknife.
Niklos dashes to the next skeleton, stabbing his magically attuned blade through its eye socket. "This reminds me of Ustalav. Nice place, y'all should visit..."
Edda's slag orb splashes against the skeleton, liquid fire eating at its bones. Seemingly unaware that he's becoming charred, it shuffles towards Basil, a weathered sword missing his ears for a millimeter.
Niklos' attack breaks through the skeleton's skull, piercing a hole behind its cheekbone. Impaled, the beast can only harmlessly flail in an attempt to harm the rogue. To your dismay, two more skeletons are raising from the soft ground...
Edda activates her Flight Hex and moves quickly above the reach of the skeletons to provide herself some safety, and better angle for her spells and wand attacks.
Basil draws the Eclipse card and plays it, before throwing his starknife at a skeleton.
Niklos keeps stabbing at the skeletons with gusto, though he keeps glancing worriedly at the increasing amount of undead in the proximity.
Between Basil's and Niklos' attacks, the damaged skeletons crumble to ink-black dust. Apparently, these creatures aren't made from Marzalee's wax.
Of those that had risen earlier, one spectacularly misses Basil with a clumsy swing, while the other charges at Niklos as the rogue is attacking it, robbing him of the time to parry the blow. Both hits strike true , as the mithral rapier finds its mark between vertebrae, but doesn't cut deep enough to drop the foe.
Meanwhile, five more bone heaps crawl out from underground.
And as the Harrow card from Sonnorae's fateful deck is drawn, its power rings out with a force you hadn't yet experienced. A crack appears in the blood-red moon, splinters flying down.
Destroying the moon or moving it away from the sun should stop the dead from rising.
Turning towards the moon, Edda frowns and shouts down to her comrades.
"Hold on! I've got this...I think!"
Concentrating, Edda flies upward, pushing her flight magic.
Seeing her comrades dire straights looming, she curbs her speed and throws one of her most powerful spells at the largest area of skeletons that are still popping up!
- The Vision! +1 Spell Penetration!
- The Rakshasa! +1 Spell Penetration!
- The Owl! +1 Caster level!
Glancing up at Edda as he skewers yet another skeleton, Niklos sweeps the sweat off his brow and growls. "Hurry up, will ya luv? This is gettin' mighty tiresome..."
The appearance of horrid tentacular formations gives him pause, causing him to take several sideward steps away from the sudden perturbation.
Basil uses his starknife in melee, cutting into a skeleton with frozen holy water!
Between Basil and Niklos, three more skeletons bite the dust. Gisele unleashes a volley of harrow cards, removing another one from the fray, and the remaining four are caught inside Edda's spell, faintly struggling against the constrictor tentacles. But there is no rest for the weary: as a bit more of the moon cracks and crumbles, three more skeletons start rising from the ground, outside of the tentacles' range.
Double move: 60 feet up! (105ft so far!)
Niklos takes a defensive stance, using swift footwork to make the skeletons stumble into each other, retreating even as he continues to take opportunistic jabs at the ones that get too close.
With things finally dawning on Gisele, she tosses a charged card at the closest skeleton while shooting off a spell to assist Edda with the other hand.
Basil whirls into the skeletons, but he's starting to get a little sloppy.
"Some speed would be appreciated, Edda!" he calls up.
Damage: 18
Niklos and Gisele team up to bring down a skeleton while Basil dispatches yet another one, bones instantly crumbling to fine dust swept away by the wind. But battle fatigue is starting to strike at them: Gisele's spell is thrown off-target, burning a dark stain in the canvas sky, and Basil gets scratched by the blade of the remaining foe . And yet two more appear, as the wooden moon slowly keeps cracking.
Double move up: 165ft total!
Next round I can start to hit it!
Maintaining his defensive stance, Niklos moves closer to the others while continuing to rain blows on any undead that approach him.
Basil continues battling skeletons until the moon can be brought down.
Gisele having used up her long distance spell goes back to helping with the skeletons with gusto. This time imbuing the deck with electricity.
Edda's tentacles finish crushing those skeletons they had entrapped and the three on the ground clear the field. For a moment you have respite, then a gigantic, skeletal arm, more than seven feet long, breaks through the ground, grasping at the grass while pulling itself out.
Trying to ignore the others below, she fails utterly as she glimpses the giant skeleton pulling itself free!
"OH...gods blast all bad stories and giants!"
Tearing herself free of the spectacle below hers, Edda pushes her flying ability to its limits and points her wand at the moon!
Range: Stopping at 190 feet (10ft from the moon)
"Eat hot lead you...joke of a flying rock!"
A direct hit deals 2d6 points of fire damage. Every creature within 5 feet of where the ball hits takes 1d6 points of fire damage from the splash (Reflex half). Each of these creatures takes an additional 1d6 points of fire damage on its turn for the next 1d3 rounds, unless it is cooled off (with water, snow, or any effect that deals 5 or more points of cold damage).
Niklos charges in to capitalise on the large skeleton's vulnerable position, stabbing it in between its vertebrae.
Basil takes a moment to call upon Desna's grace as he's flinging his starknife. The frozen ice weapon explodes against the skeleton before reforming in his hand.
Gisele will fling two cards at the emerging skeleton.
Edda's orb crashes against the wooden moon, slag eating at the wooden surface. Twirls of smoke rise from the disc as it starts burning to charcoal.
As the giant skeleton struggles to break free, he swipes at Niklos, claws as large as a gnome leaving bloody streaks on his flesh. Bones clatter as a leg comes out of the ground, crashing next to the rogue.
Seeing that the moon was mostly wood, she waves a hand and let loose with her personal fire magic!
Burn you B$7(#!!!
Niklos tumbles back, doing his best to roll with the impact. He spits out a glob of blood and wipes his mouth on his sleeve, before leaping back into action. Switching back to a more conservative tactic, the rogue attempts to move back and forth in between the skeleton's legs to stay out of its reach, all the while stabbing at its feet to keep it focused on him.
Basil murmurs a prayer to Desna while moving to get out of the giant's reach.
As one of Gisele's cards goes wide and another strikes its mark, Niklos' biting dance succeeds in getting the giant skeleton's attention. Unfortunately, the guard of a rapier is not much effective against the colossal fist that thumps against his rips, knocking the wind out of his lungs . A razor-sharp claw heads for the rogue's throat, too fast to catch, but it's in that moment that Edda's fiery devastation is enough for the moon to crack. Fiery debris rains from the sky, clattering against the ground, and as soon as natural light floods the clearing again, the skeleton crumbles into dust, peace settling.
Niklos stumbles back from the blow, falling on his behind as he watches the skeleton crumble into dust. He spits out another glob of blood, and immediately starts wrapping up another cigarette. He gives Edda a quick thumbs-up, before wincing as he strains his side.
"Sh*t," he mutters, kicking at the dust in front of him. "Serves you right, you bony-ass motherf*cker! Oh hells, that smarts..."
Sighing, Edda watches the light change and the moon disintegrate. Looking down she sees her friends alive, if not in the best of shape. Wand still in hand, she begins her decent and calls out.
"You guys alive?"
Basil nods, the ice starknife melting into harmless water. "Well enough."
"Niklos, you need healing?" he asks.
Niklos, now laying on his back, lets out a litany of curses accompanied by puffs of tobacco smoke.
Landing lightly next to Niklos, Edda dolls out her healing freely with her healing hex!
"Anybody else hurt?"
Niklos climbs to his feet, feeling his side with a look of relief. "Ooh, yeah. That's the good stuff. Thanks a bunch, luv."
He brushes off his coat and turns on his heels, regaining his usual joviality. "Better carry on, eh? Places to be, people to kill..."
"Huh, Gisele looks at the pile of dust starting to blow away, "Never seen that happen to a skeleton before."
Gisele looks down at her fairly depleted deck, "I am going to need a few minutes to restore my deck before we continue."